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INDIANAPOLIS—IMTS attendees will be the first in the world to see the new Hurco brand, announced John Donlon, Hurco’s Executive Vice President of Worldwid...Read more
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INDIANAPOLIS—IMTS attendees will be the first in the world to see the new Hurco brand, announced John Donlon, Hurco’s Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing. Donlon explained the motivation of the re-branding initiative, “Our customers have known for years the technological advantages of our CNC machines because they experience the benefits of our control technology each day with increased productivity and profitability. Our new branding better reflects Hurco’s commitment to innovation that helps our customers reap these benefits through the advanced software features of our control.”

“According to industry reports, shops across the U.S. are having difficulty finding qualified machinists, which is impeding their ability to grow. We know from our customers that Hurco CNC machine tools solve that problem on many levels due to our control technology because it simplifies complex operations, makes shop floor operations more efficient, and improves overall productivity. For the new brand, we selected the tagline, ‘Mind Over Metal’ because we feel it captures the partnership between Hurco and our customers. Their machining expertise combined with our control technology gets them from print to part faster to improve profitability,” said Donlon

The centerpiece of the Hurco re-branding presentation at IMTS will be the new VMX42SRT 5-axis machining center that has a direct-drive C-axis rotary table. The swivel head/rotary table design of the VMX42SRT features a flush rotary table that is embedded for maximum manufacturing flexibility and a larger work cube. For 5-axis parts, the embedded C-axis rotary table supports taller parts due to more than 3.5 additional inches in Z. For 3-axis work, the increased table size supports parts up to 42 x 24 inches. Basic specifications of the VMX42SRT include X/Y/Z travels of 42/24/24 inches, a 12K spindle standard, a 40-station swing-arm automatic tool changer, X/Y/Z rapids of 1,378/1,378/1,181 inches per minute, and the integrated Hurco control that includes both conversational and NC programming modes.

In addition to the new brand launch and six new machine models, Hurco will announce the official release of the company’s patented UltiMotionTM technology for 5-axis machining centers. First introduced on 3-axis mills, UltiMotionTM simultaneously improves surface finish quality and reduces cycle time by as much as 30-40 percent.

Greg Volovic, Executive Vice President of Technology and Operations for Hurco, said, “UltiMotionTM is probably the biggest advancement in control technology in the last decade. It is the result of years of research and development, and is a combination of Hurco’s proprietary control technologies and advanced modern control theories. The primary benefits to customers are the ability to cut higher quality parts in a shorter period of time with greater accuracy and complete flexibility in adjusting the balance between surface finish and maximum feed rates. Our customers with 3-axis machining centers experienced such phenomenal results, the engineering team accelerated the development of UltiMotionTM for 5-axis. No one else has this technology. UltiMotionTM is only available on Hurco mills,” explained Volovic.

While UltiMotionTM includes multiple technological advancements and benefits for customers, the patented lookahead mechanism is the foundation. Unlike traditional lookahead, UltiMotion’s lookahead doesn’t require a fixed number of blocks because it is controlled by software instead of hardware. With UltiMotionTM, the control evaluates the geometry and motion profile and makes sure there is enough lookahead information to make optimized maneuvers, which results in better surface finish quality in a shorter amount of time. The rapid cornering capability of UltiMotionTM allows the spindle to travel through corners at high speed with negligible deviation without overshooting or stopping, which significantly reduces cycle time when machining parts with many repetitive tasks, such as drilling or tapping. UltiMotionTM is available for both conversational and G-code programs, but is only available on Hurco 3-axis and 5-axis machining centers.

Other new Hurco machine tools to be introduced at IMTS include the VM5, and four high-speed machining centers, the VM10HS, VM10UHS, VM24HS, and VM42HS. The popular VM20 3-axis mill, the flagship VMX50 3-axis mill, and the mill turn TMX8MYS lathe with sub-spindle, will also be at on display at the Hurco booth.

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About Hurco Companies, Inc.

Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Hurco manufactures sophisticated, yet shop floor friendly machine tools designed for virtually any application and budget. The flagship VMX Series is a production-oriented line of mills designed for speed while the high performance TMX Series is its counterpart in the lathe category. The popular VM Series of mills and the TM Series of lathes combine small footprints with huge work cubes and best-in-class features. The U Series and SR Series feature application machines with 5-axis technology. The TMM Series includes lathes equipped with live tooling for multi-tasking. Each machining center and turning center from Hurco includes the integrated Hurco control with WinMax® which has multiple programming methods and is the most efficient way for machine shops to increase productivity.

INDIANAPOLIS—The
Hurco 5-axis VMX42SR has multiple benefits for mold shops, especially shops
that manufacture deep cavity molds or tall core molds. The VMX42SR uses a
rotary table and swivel head that allows the tool to tilt and rotate, which
promotes the use of shorter tools instead of long, skinny tools that a typical
3-axis machine requires. When using long tools, the machinist has to decrease
the feed rates to prevent tool breakage and minimize chatter. With stouter,
shorter tools used on the 5-axis VMX42SR, the machinist can push faster with
increased feed rates and take heavier cuts. The ability to use shorter tooling
with the VMX42SR also reduces the deflection of the tool, increases surface
finish quality, significantly reduces the need to polish the mold, and eliminates
the need for EDM operations in many cases.

The
VMX42SR’s table (C-axis) has unlimited and continuous angular movement, which
is especially important when machining down a steep wall and going around the
part. If the C-axis only has +360/-360 degrees of motion, the process is
significantly slowed down because the table will literally need to unwind at
regular intervals to machine the part. Rigid and reliable, the VMX42SR features
premium components, such as oversized linear rails, high accuracy encoders, and
an integral spindle, and it is powered by integrated Hurco control. The Hurco
control with WinMax® has the specifications required to process
large part programs, such as a 40 GB hard drive, 2 GB of RAM, a 2.8 GHz Pentium
4 processor, and processing speed up to 2,918 bps. Additionally, the control
has numerous features that enhance NC programs, such as Tool Path
Linearization, which eliminates gouging of the workpiece and the line segments
in the form of XYZBC or AC moves that a CAM system uses. With Tool Path
Linearization, the mold will have a smoother surface finish and the program is
optimized to promote a smaller file size.

Automatic
Safe Repositioning (ASR) is another premium feature that benefits NC programs. A
simple addition of one G-code tells the machine to retract along the vector and
override the out of limits protocol, eliminating error messages or machine stoppages.
The Hurco control is smart enough to retract, move to Z0 along the X-limit,
re-orient the tool, move to retract plane, move above the plunge point, and
plunge to the target along the vector.

Based
in Indianapolis, Indiana, Hurco manufactures sophisticated, yet shop floor
friendly machine tools designed for virtually any application and budget. The
flagship VMX Series is a production-oriented line of mills designed for
speed while the high performance TMX Series is its counterpart in the
lathe category. The popular VM Series of mills and the TM Series of lathes
combine small footprints with huge work cubes and best-in-class features. The U
Series and SR Series feature application machines with 5-axis technology. The
TMM Series includes lathes equipped with live tooling for multi-tasking. Each
machining center and turning center from Hurco includes the integrated Hurco
control with WinMax® which has multiple programming methods and is
the most efficient way for machine shops to increase productivity.